The Basket's Answer

When I opened my eyes, dawn was leaking in through the narrow window.

"Mmm..."

My whole body was stiff and sore. Strangely, though, my head felt clear. A faint current was moving through me—something that had never been there before.

Status window.

"It's real."

Mana—the power every warrior, mage, and adventurer in this world used. Without talent, they said, you could train for years and never touch it. I had made it in half a year.

The basket failed, but this alone is a huge result.

I gave a wry smile and pushed myself up. That was when the Goblin Basket, slumped in the corner of the room, caught my eye.

"Ha..."

Half of everything I owned rose up in my mind. I was just about to put the basket away and let the regret go.

"Hm?"

A red gleam showed through the grain of the bamboo. Something was different from yesterday. I rubbed my eyes and looked again. I had definitely put two in. Inside the basket, only one red Ability Stone remained. Thinking it might be a trick of the light, I rubbed my eyes once more. Still one.

No way...

My heart started to pound again. Then reason—already bracing to hope for nothing and be disappointed—reached for a sensible explanation.

...No way. Did someone steal one?

Calm down. Calm down.

I drew a long breath to steady myself, and a faint current circled inside my body, quietly settling my mind.

No doubt about it. This is mana.

I slapped my cheek.

This alone is enough. So... don't get your hopes up.

Steeling myself not to be disappointed, I carefully opened the basket and closed my hand around the Ability Stone.

It worked!

I forced down the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tremor in my hands and fought not to shout.

This actually works? It really works?

My heart suddenly beat three times as fast, and I felt heat climb into my face. To cool myself down, I started with the numbers.

Did it keep only the higher stat from each stone? The name looks pretty normal, too.

Even so, nothing was certain yet.

Check Additional Information.

A low hum.

"Yes! Yes!!"

I couldn't hold the cheer in any longer.

"It worked. It worked! Hahaha!"

The hope I had barely dared to hold had come true completely, and it felt as if something clogged in my chest had blown clean open. A world that had been nothing but gloom suddenly poured down a bright light and showed me the road.

Bang. Bang.

"Charr. Something wrong!?"

If it hadn't been Jerik's voice, I would have rolled around the room for a good while, soaking in that rush.

"Khm—no, it's nothing!"

I shouted the answer back, then carefully examined the Ability Stone again.

So the stats lock to whichever of the two was higher, one penalty drops off each, and the abilities merge?

I could roughly see how the synthesis worked. It would have been even better if every penalty had vanished and I could raise the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spirits' grade as well, but wishing for that much was pure thief's greed.

This one... I'm taking it.

It looked far more versatile than Steel Body, the ability I had originally been saving up to buy. And among red Ability Stones—the very lowest grade—the stats on this one sat near the top.

The moment I made up my mind, the system spoke.

Yes.

A hum.

Done.

The smile had barely formed.

Crack.

Ghk!?

A sharp, tingling pain raced through my whole body.

Crrrack. Crack.

Nngh.

It hurt, but if I endured that electric pain for a moment, a clean thrill followed after it. Even that feeling didn't last long.

And then—

"Whoa..."

I clenched my fist once, and strength overflowed it. Everything around me came into sharp focus, and the mana I had only faintly sensed seemed to have multiplied tenfold in an instant. I suddenly felt as if I could do anything. I forced my head clear anyway.

No. Get a grip. At the end of the day, this is still only a Novice adventurer who hasn't even earned a class.

More than a year of being ground down in this savage world shoved the giddy rush back down. Even so—

The numbers were nothing like a day ago. Half a year of training myself half to death had raised Stamina and Agility by one each. A single Ability Stone had multiplied my stats several times over. Only now did I truly feel the gap between an adventurer and an ordinary person.

That was when it came.

Bang, bang, bang!

"Charr!"

Jerik's voice, from outside the door.

"What was that noise just now?"

I hurriedly threw a cloth over the basket and shoved it under the bed.

"It's nothing!"

"If it's nothing, why were you yelling?"

"I had a good dream!"

"Sounded like you woke up and shouted!"

"The dream lingered!"

A brief silence.

"...You're late for work."

"What?"

I looked at the window. It wasn't dawn light. Morning sun was already coming in.

"Damn it!"

I scrambled into my clothes. When I opened the door, Jerik was standing there with his arms folded.

"You get mana, and on the first day you're sleeping in?"

"I'm sorry. I was exhausted yesterday..."

Mid-sentence, Jerik's eyes narrowed. His gaze traveled slowly from my face to my shoulders, my arms, my legs.

"You."

I flinched.

"What's wrong with your body?"

"My body?"

"Overnight, you've become a different person."

A former adventurer's eyes were hard to fool. I still couldn't tell him about the basket. I brought out the excuse I had prepared in advance. In truth, it wasn't even an excuse.

"I absorbed an Ability Stone I'd bought."

"An Ability Stone?"

"Yes."

"What ability?"

I hesitated, then gave him only part of the truth.

"An ability that subjugates four lowest-grade spirits."

"Four?"

Jerik's eyes widened.

"You had the money for a stone like that?"

"It was cheap because of the side effects."

"The side effects?"

"As far as I could confirm, there was no problem."

Jerik knew my trait. He nodded at once.

"If you checked it with your own eyes, I can believe it."

He tapped my shoulder once. A light touch—but my body didn't sway the way it used to. The corner of Jerik's mouth lifted, just barely.

"Even so, work is work."

"I know."

"Tonight, show me the spirits first—ah. You'll need Spirit Stones, won't you?"

Spirit Stones. Special stones in which an attribute had condensed, gathered from the mana-rich depths of the Labyrinth. This was multiple spirit subjugation. Not raising my affinity and contracting a spirit that already existed. So—

"Yes. I'll need lowest-grade Spirit Stones."

"Right. Well, lowest-grade Spirit Stones are lying around on the deep floors. I'll see about getting some."

"...Thank you."

"And you're late, so run."

"Sorry?"

"Full sprint to the general store."

"Then I'll have to work soaked in sweat."

"A man who means to be an adventurer can't even handle that?"

I had no argument. I ran for the general store.

My body was far lighter than I had expected. With every stride, the ground seemed to shove itself backward beneath me. Distances that usually left me gasping were behind me in no time.

So this is why people absorb Ability Stones.

I thought I understood why even someone who had trained for years couldn't stand against an adventurer who had gained a single ability. At the same time, I pulled myself together.

It's still only lowest-grade.

I had only just earned the right to stand at the entrance of the Labyrinth. Beginners who walked in drunk on excitement and died there were beyond counting. What I needed now was not to get intoxicated on strength. It was to learn how to handle this new power properly.

I told myself that. Even so, not a single task at the general store bored me that day.

That evening.

"Here. Got them. Spirit Stones."

Jerik laid four stones of different colors in front of me, and I bowed at once.

"Thank you, Master. Here's the money..."

"Forget it. I can do this much between us. It wasn't anything difficult."

He wasn't wrong. Lowest-grade Spirit Stones were worthless junk that came out of the deep floors. But they were things you couldn't even lay eyes on in a District 9 general store.

"How did you get them?"

"A junior of mine wanted some information. I got these for that."

"A junior? Information?"

"Enough. Hurry up and try that spirit subjugation. I've never seen it, so I'm curious."

There was no point digging into something he hadn't chosen to explain. I only had to thank him and show him what he wanted to see.

"...All right, then."

The power of my Ability Stone, Multiple Spirit Subjugation, was to subjugate spirits that already existed—to put them to work. It was not the way of the rare spiritmancers, who formed contracts with the spirits of nature. It was a monster skill, an ability that forced spirits into service. And judging by the additional information, it wasn't ordinary subjugation, either. Even I, trying it for the first time, couldn't help being a little tense.

"You know the method, right?"

"Yes."

As I answered, I carefully shifted my hand and let mana flow naturally into the four colored stones.

A hum.

The moment my non-attribute mana seeped in, light rose from the four stones, and a splitting sound began.

Crack.

Beams burst from the splitting stones and gathered into four colors. I reached out and raised the power of the ability.

Come to me. Submit.

At the same time, the lowest-grade spirits—barely beginning to take form—were sucked into my body in an instant. My mana and will overwrote them, reshaped them, and pushed them back out.

Immediately, my vision swam.

"Huh?"

"Oh!"

"So that's how it is."

"This is fun."

Spirits bound from fire, water, earth, and wind drifted through the air as tiny copies of me, barely two heads tall.

"Mm..."

"Hoh? These—all of them your clones?"

"...Well. Something like that."

There wasn't another way to explain it. The shapes were clearly cute, but they had my face, which made cute an awkward word. Setting that strange impression aside—

"Ugh..."

The senses and sight those spirits felt were shared with me whole, and a faint motion sickness rolled through me. Still, it was bearable.

The mana cost seems lower than I thought, too.

There were probably several ways to use them in a fight. Before that, though—

"Well? Think scouting will work the way you pictured?"

"Yes. Better than I pictured, even. I see and feel through them directly."

"Good. That's a weight off my mind."

Just as Jerik and I had discussed beforehand, using them for reconnaissance looked far more efficient.

"Let's practice. Try them in a fight, too."

"Yes."

A short while later, a few drills with Jerik and the spirits left me satisfied.

"Max range about fifty meters?"

"Yes. Exactly what I expected. But I can still see with my own eyes from there, so in practice I can scout even farther."

"I figured they'd be lucky ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to check alleys in a maze, but..."

"I think they'll be more useful than I expected."

I was satisfied. Lowest-grade spirits were no great help in a direct fight, but projecting my consciousness so I could watch my own battle from a completely different angle—that was huge.

Multiple viewpoints. This is the best part.

A fine ability, one that could patch the holes in my lacking martial skill. An advantage I hadn't even considered.

"Right. That's a serious weapon, no question. But don't let your guard down."

"Sorry?"

Jerik hardened his face toward my excitement.

"Your stats are decent for a beginner, and you've picked up a pretty good ability. A beginner is still a beginner. Too much confidence is poison."

A warning that the Labyrinth was more dangerous than it looked.

"You've got mana now, so learn at least one more mana skill before you go in. Kirk comes of age soon. If the two of you go together, you'll have a comrade you can rely on."

Kirk was as close as Jerik had to a chief disciple—the one who had inherited all of his secret arts. He even looked like Jerik. Blond hair aside, no one would have questioned it if you called him Jerik's son.

"With Kirk...?"

"Yes. A first trip into the Labyrinth is dangerous. We do it as safely as we can."

Not one word of it was wrong. Before, becoming an adventurer had been a vague thing I knew I had to do. Now it was the reality right in front of me.

"Wait three months. The day Kirk comes of age. Train hard until then."

"Yes."

I felt no resistance to it. Jerik would tell me the dangers, and I would prepare and train. Three months would not feel that long.